Tata Motors begins post-rejig journey; first two new products unveiled

Tim Leverton (R), Chief of the advanced and product engineering department at Tata Motors, Ranjit Yadav, President, Passenger Vehicles, Tata Motors and Narain Karthikeyan (L) at the unveiling of their new car 'Bolt' in New Delhi. PTI

Tata Motors unveiled on Monday the first two models of an entirely new line of products developed after the company went through a major transformation over the last year under a new top management. The company hopes that the new line up, which will include more models like a compact SUV that will be unveiled in the Auto Expo this week, will help it become the second-largest domestic car maker by 2020.

The compact hatch 'Bolt' and compact sedan 'Zest' herald a new design language for the company with intense focus on improving quality levels and stressing on hi-end features and technology. With a starting price of around Rs 4.5 lakh, the Bolt is expected to be positioned above the Indica Vista, while the Zest, which is expected to be priced around Rs 5.5 lakh, will compete with compact sub-four metre sedans like the Maruti Suzuki Dzire and the Honda Amaze.

Ranjit Yadav, president (passenger vehicles) at Tata Motors said that both the cars will be launched in the second half of the year (between July and December) and will be exported to markets like Indonesia, South Africa and Algeria from 2015. Zest and Bolt address new segments. They stand for performance and start of a new journey for Tata Motors. We expect a revival in sales with these products. We have a product pipeline ready till 2020, and these two models are just the first of them.

Asked about how the company plans to carry on its new business plan after the untimely death of its architect, Karl Slym last month, he said, One of his (Karl Slym) strengths was his ability to build teams. The team is there, it will stick together and carry the work forward. There is a common vision we are working on now.

Designed as a collaborative effort between Tata's facilities in Pune, Coventry (UK) and Turin ( Italy), the two new models include Tata's new signature grill and offer many hi-end features. The Zest sedan will offer a cost-competitive automatic transmission option (AMT), apart from projector head lamps, daytime running lights, 15 inch alloy wheels and touchscreen infotainment system with navigation. For safety, the two cars get speed-sensitive power steering, which is a first in the segment, airbags and ABS with cornering stability.